Lilly's Story

http://www.makers.com/lilly-ledbetter

Gender in Mad Men

Modern-day explanation of women being discriminated against in the workplace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBBsh8VwmkI

Demi Lovato: biography

"No matter what you're going through, there's a light at the end of the tunnel and it may seem hard to get to it but you can do it and just keep working towards it and you'll find the positive side of things." - Demi Lovato 

While her success came easy, Lovato was fighting an inner struggle that she didn't know how to fix. She had so many issues that were underneath, that needed to be taken care of. It literally drove her insane she recalls. "I was not eating, and purging, and self-harming. It was really difficult to be able to stop." Demi's parents split up when she was a little kid and how, even at the age of 7, she felt depressed. It was around that time she began to struggle with depression and eating disorders. While in treatment, in addition to self-harm like cutting and eating disorders, the singer found out she was bipolar, but it took her awhile to come to terms with her problems. While she could have kept her demons and struggles to herself, she wanted to air her secrets in a documentary. She thought making the documentary it could really help other teenagers who were struggling, to help them realize that there is hope.Demi is using her past as a chance to speak out about her problems and potentially help other teens dealing with the same issues. Depicted in the picture to the right Demi's hands state "love is louder than the pressure of being perfect." Demi's using her past as a chance to speak out about her problems and potentially help other teens dealing with the same issues. 

" Where I am today… I still have my ups and downs, but I take it one day at a time and I just hope that I can be the best that I can possibly be, not only for myself, but also young people that are out there toady that need someone to look up to." - Demi Lovato 



http://www.biography.com/people/demi-lovato-481444

biography: Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama: 
"I want to leave something behind that we can say, 'Because of this time that this person spent here, this thing has changed.' And my hope is that that's going to be in the area of childhood obesity."-Michelle Obama.

The photo above shows Obama with the Miami Heat Basketball team after there win eating apples to send a positive message to kids about eating heathy and being better athletes. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, Obama attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School before returning to Chicago to work at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met her future husband. Subsequently, she worked as part of the staff of Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, and for the University of Chicago Medical Center. Obesity is a prevalent social problem in today's society, with rates steadily increasing. According to the Weight Control Information Network, since the early 1960s, the prevalence of obesity among adults more than doubled, increasing from 13.4 to 35.7 percent in U.S. adults age 20 and older. In addition, today two in three adults are considered overweight or obese, and one in six children aged 6–19 are considered obese. Michelle Obama extended efforts of former first women toward healthy eating by planting the White House Kitchen Garden, an organic garden, the first White House vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt served as First Lady, and installing bee hives, on the South Lawn of the White House. She has also started up the program titled 'Lets Move!'. This program is about putting children on the path to a healthy future during their earliest months and years. Giving parents helpful information and fostering environments that support healthy choices. Providing healthier foods in our schools. Ensuring that every family has access to healthy, affordable food. And, helping children become more physically active.


"In the end, as First Lady, this isn’t just a policy issue for me. This is a passion. This is my mission. I am determined to work with folks across this country to change the way a generation of kids thinks about food and nutrition." 


 "White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report to the President | Let's Move!". Letsmove.gov. Retrieved December 15, 2012

 "White House Photo Blog: Wednesday, June 17, 2009: First Garden".Time. June 17, 2009. Retrieved April 7, 2010.

 Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (January 14, 2010). "After a Year of Learning, the First Lady Seeks Out a Legacy". The New York Times. p. A20. Retrieved April 6, 2010.

Biography

Renee Walters was not convinced by the American dream. She had so much going against her. After raising three children as a single mother, she focused on her job at the bank. She worked long hours, seven days a week, because as she was told, hard work and dedication could get you a well paying job, and everyone had an equal shot at being successful. This wasn’t the case for Renee though. She had been at this job for twenty years, barely taking maternity leave when she had her children. After decades of endless shifts at the bank, she was still at the bottom of the corporate ladder, making less than her male counterparts. The males at the bank were being promoted faster than her, despite the fact that she knew more than them, had been there longer, and was a more efficient employee.  She was an American citizen, yet everyday she found herself wondering why she wasn’t entitled to the same rights as her fellow Americans. She had heard about discrimination against women in the workplace was a problem, but it took her some time to step back and realize it was happening right in front of her, in her workplace, affecting her life. The American dream was being overshadowed by this issue of discrimination, and she had just come to the realization of it. She saw the young, unskilled men rapidly moving above her at the bank, the way people looked down at her and spoke to her when she was working. She decided it was time. Time for her to learn more about combating this issue, when she wasn’t at the bank she was at the town library, learning about a movement she discovered called feminism. It was time for a new start for not only her, but also for any other women who were affected by discrimination. She decided to use feminism as her tool to combat the injustice she had been experiencing throughout her life.

Photo from: http://giam.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/091760x.jpg

Small Town Ohio

Blue jeans and a cable knit sweater
Dark red polished nails, not too long.
She always has at least a pound of butter in the fridge
There is something coming out of the oven every night
Her house has more than one fake rooster
The dinner table always has a seasonal center piece

Screened in porch with a pitcher of sun tea
The back yard over looks the apple orchard that is next to the corn field
Her apple pies are always made in multiples of five
The office with the french doors showing a wall of family photographs

She always host parties as an excuse to make a tablescape
Her family is a direct reflection on her own character
Before leaving the house you must be put together
Pearls and lipstick are as important as your car keys

She worked at one point at an insurance company but now is a stay at home mom
Making laundry an art and having every room out of a Pottery Barn catalog
The next door neighbors all gather on weekends for cards and talk about the family down the street
In the summer the lawns all have a woven pattern

The world is beyond the city limits and doesn't touch anywhere she knows
Crime, politics and debt are just stories on FOX
Church on Sundays are a way to show off your perfect family
All together, put together, pray together.

Conservative views where women are mothers and thats an honor
Dinner every night will be made from scratch, no frozen meals in her home
Dinners start with kids setting the table
Plates having at least one vegetable and one protein
Pies, cakes and trifles for dessert
Homework and 9:30 bedtimes for the kids, no exceptions

The kids all have their own sports
She goes and cheers for them each
She organizes gift bags and treats for the team
Each mom trying to out do the next
Team dinners and practices always early and the coaches favorite



I grew up in a small town in Ohio where everyone knew everywhere and the mothers were all in competition with each other. 'Keeping up with the Johnsons' would be putting it lightly. The moms would always be trying to be more involved than the next and to have their kids in the paper. It didn't do a thing for me so I left.

 

Typical Hinsdale Mom

Typical Hinsdale Mom 

She has a mini van to drive her three children around

Typical soccer mom who brings oranges for half time

Stay at home mom who has too much time on her hand

Her husband is a successful doctor who supports the whole family

He is usually only home at dinnertime

Family dinners and the big wooden table in the kitchen

They are a close knit family and talk about their days

They are a cookie cutter family where everything has to seem perfect

In the summer her spare time is spent at the country club

Kids are in tennis and swim lessons

Husband plays golf with co-workers

She plays tennis with friends

She wears sweaters and workout clothes

School year comes around and It is time to send kids to school

Her kids are well behaved

They attended a very good private school five minutes away from home

Saint Isaac Jogues is the name

The children are forced to wear red white and blue uniforms that they despise

Small grades about 90 children per grade and church on Fridays

While her kids are in school she has her work out schedule and luncheons

Lifetime Fitness is where all of Hinsdale attends

She is very in shape and healthy

Her luncheons consist of three other moms eating at corner bakery

Eating their salads

They can gossip for hours about how awesome their children are

Friday night comes around

She supports the red devils

The local bar is full with all her friends around the block from the football field

Friday night football is a time where the whole town can get together

Town roars in victory as Hinsdale usually make it to state every year

The stands are full with white black and red

As the weekend rolls around she is relaxed and happy

Reading a large book on the porch when she has time

And the cycle continues same schedule day in and day out

I grew up in a suburb of chicago . This is trying to relay the message that my hometown is a bubble and inside the bubble everything is trying to be perfect. My town is very materialistic. Thats why I came all the way to Kentucky to get away from it all (:

Give me back my hometown

My Hometown

She's a small girl,
she knows just enough about life to be smart
but not enough to know tragedy.

She's a friendly wave hello as you drive by,
She's help from a neighbor,
She's lunch after church on a Sunday.

She's a southern accent,
Talking slow enough to make sure everyone's listening,
subtly making sure all eyes are on her.

She's an understanding nod,
She's a listening ear as you share what's bothering you,
She's sharing a cup of sweet tea over catching up between two friends.

She's beauty, not conventional beauty,
but beauty in it's purest form.
Natural beauty.

In explaining my characterization, I kept it simple because it is representing my hometown, which is a very simple place. I thought about the things I saw as i was growing up and incorporated them here, into a characterization poem. Through this characterization, i personified my hometown and described it as if it were a person, which brings it to life and makes if more interactive.

Camera Eye

Lost in the confusion of my mind

Looking for a way out

This cannot be real

Caught up in my emotions of confusion and anger

Wondering if they understand my tears
Always keeping my head bowed too afraid to see my future
Afraid of the hurt & pain that awaits me

Biting my tongue for others because of the fear of being alone
Compromising for the family but getting nothing in return
Wondering why life has thrown me this
The ups and downs; the tears and smiles

Praying that someone can help me out
Regretting all the moments I didn't fully cherish
I didn't think they would be taken from me

Afraid of the uncertainties that lie ahead
Lost in my struggle
I never thought I would be that kid. Not me.

To summarize the event this camera eye is overseeing, it is the divorce of my parents. I was young at the time so I was very confused and didn't think it was really happening because it was a huge change for me. The camera eye is seeing not only the event itself but how I was feeling during it. 

M.L.R

Drop everything now
Meet me in the pouring rain

“ You will never know how much I care. You are my best friend my soul mate and my everything, you mean the world to me and I never want that to end. Me without you is like Adam without Eve. It is just unnatural, you might just be my best friend and I might not be anything to you. But I do love you with all my heart.”

 

 

                                    “……but girl I gotta see you tonight”

 

Love is like a friednship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.

 

                             Friends can help each other. A true friend is

                             Someone who lets you have total freedom to

                             Be yourself- and especially to feel. Or, not

feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at

the moment is fine with them. That’s what

real love amounts to- letting a person be

what he really is

This is about a relationship that I am currently involved in. Everything in this describes how I feel and he feels. I believe this gives a good description of my relationship.

US ROUTE 99

I was aiming for the horizon
the peaks would be my new backyard

cremate my body and let the ocean have the rest of me

That's where I was headed

and the places on the globe I didn't know existed

Can we pretend that are airplanes in the night sky are shooting stars 

HOWARD FOOTE ONCE TOOK A
 JET FOR A JOY RIDE

are there guidelines or regulations
the new air craft would be discussed

PLAID PANTS, CHECKERED HAT
AND READY TO SWING INTO HAWAII

Grapevines

hard leather box, crimson and gold
polished silver tray draped with linen
Cartier, a diamond gleaming, staring, demanding attention

the sun, now setting, warmed my silk dress
peaceful moments, deep breaths, a vacation from life
grapevines left dancing shadows over the hills
the spice of the wine filled my head

tears came without warning
stomach dropping
overwhelming wave of anxiety
paralyzed at the thought of an answer

warm cobblestone under my polished toes
encapsulated by the straps of my heels
the isolation from the others
not a coincidence

watchful eyes hanging on for my next words
crowds, strangers invested in the pursuit of a happy ending
dinner and a show

who had this girl become
labels, carrots and foreign cars - a race
gala, balls, fundraisers
polished to be a centerpiece, admired, untouched
complacent, an accessory
envied only by outsiders

the news paper headlines, court rooms, money fraud
screams, greed, interviews
politically correct, channel  Jackie O

voice striped, opinion mocked, belittled
suffocated by the expectations
"how dare you speak to the staff"

the words couldn't come
knots in my throat
mind swimming
saying no, no to the man who hears only "yes"

no to a life of coasting
no to silence
no to duchess
no to the little girl dreams

filled with my grandmothers heart
my stand was taken
finally free.

Race for Gold in the Snow

Figure Skating Gold Is Russia’s First

For the last five years, construction trucks have rumbled day and night through the street that bisects the village, on what used to be a gravel road but was paved over for Olympic building purposes. The village has gone without fresh water since 2008..

Defying, and Then Exploiting, Gravity

Anderson has won more of slopestyle’s big events than any woman in history, and her gold medal capped an American sweep of the inaugural Olympic slopestyle events.

“It’s a great feeling because you can just float,”

Bobsledder who punched his way out of his hotel room, now stuck in elevator.

cites: NY Times.com

Need for Speed

Sport involving the racing of automobiles for competition, there are numerous different categories of auto racing.


Age and experience will matter regardless of whether Jimmie Johnson or Matt Kenseth wins this year's NASCAR tittle.


Summer's here and the time is right
for racin' in the street


A street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a cross country race with revenge in mind.


2 Oklahoma law- enforcement officers, suspect killed in high-speed chase






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_racing
http://www.lyricsdepot.com/bruce-springsteen/racing-in-the-street.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2369135/
http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/race-car-drivers
http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2014/01/2_oklahoma_law-enforcement_off.html

An American Innovator

George Eastman

Eastman Kodak Company

American Technology

Imaging solutions and services for businesses

Use of roll film

bring photography to the mainstream

major philanthropist

dominant position in photographic film

1932: George Eastman dies, taking his own life with a gun shot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eastman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastman_Kodak#History

Greed

she take my money when I'm in need
Yeah she's a trifling friend indeed
Oh she's a gold digger way over town
That digs on me

SHOW ME THE MONEY

2.5 BILLION DOLLAR DIVORCE, MOST EXPENSIVE TO DATE

In greed we trust?-NY Times